Conservative Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris): North America's Unassuming, Unchanged, Unresponsive Freshwater Fish

The word flathead is graphically evocative to the imagination and in reality. In fiction, for example, the term evokes the flatheads who appear in the Royal Histories of Oz series by Lyman Frank Baum (May 5, 1856-May 6, 1919). The story of the Flatheads is told in the first and fourteenth books in the Royal Histories of Oz series: "The Wizard of Oz" and "Glinda of Oz." Ultimately, the Flatheads manage to have their flat-topped lack of craniums and foreheads reversed to more rounded shapes. A name change from Flatheads to Mountaineers reflects the geography which replaces the physique as the tribe's defining trait.

In real life, the term flathead may bring to mind the nineteenth-century nicknames for the Choctaw and Salish tribes of the United States of America. The nicknames originated to distinguish peoples that bound infant skulls with boards or that compressed infant foreheads with sandbags from those that did not. Specifically, the foreheads of the Choctaw seemed flat in profile in comparison to the more rounded look of the tribe's non-practicing neighbors. Similarly, the skulls of the Salish took on a flat-topped look in comparison to the pointed cone heads of their practicing neighbors.

The term also calls to mind the flathead catfish. In contrast to the fictitious and real-life examples mentioned above, the word describes a natural look which is not induced. The flathead catfish is so-called precisely because it is born, and spends its entire life, with a distinctly flattened head.

What is the flathead catfish’s common name? The flathead catfish is the common name by which people in their ordinary daily routines refer to the flathead catfish. As is the case with so many common names, it is unknown who first invented and used the phrase which took off like wildfire and remains unaltered and unchallenged to this day. But depending upon the locale, this common name may be joined or replaced by others, such as:

• Bashaw;
  
• Bean eye;
  
• Blue cat;
  
• Flatbelly catfish;
  
• Goujon;
  
• Hoosier;
  
• Johnnie cat;
  
• Mississippi bullhead;
  
• Mississippi cat, Mississippi catfish;
  
• Mud cat;
  
• Opelousa cat, Opelousa catfish, Opelousas, Opp, Ops, which also may be spelled as App, Appaloosa cat, Appaloosa catfish, Appaluchion, Apps;
  
• Pied cat;
  
• Shovelhead cat;
  
• Shovelnose cat;
  
• Tabby;
  
• Yellow cat.

What is the flathead catfish’s scientific name? Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (October 22, 1783-September 18, 1840) was a multi-lingual scientist. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey, but raised in Marseilles, France. He was homeschooled, largely by himself, in such sciences as:

• Biology;
• Botany;
• Zoology.

Concurrently, he was motivated to begin building a collection of plants.

Between 1802 and 1805, the self-taught French/German collector made an extended visit to the United States of America. He spent much of his time getting to know the plants of Delaware and Pennsylvania. He took an impressive botanical collection to categorize and store with his European specimens when he returned home.

At the age of twenty-five, the wealthy Frenchman closed a successful trading business in Palermo, Sicily. He dedicated the rest of his life to natural history. In pursuit of his love of nature, he relocated to the United States:

• First in New York City;
• Then in the Kentucky bluegrass city of Lexington;
• Finally in the Pennsylvania city of Philadelphia.

While serving as botany professor at Lexington’s Transylvania University, the inveterate collector and classifier retrieved a flathead catfish specimen from the Ohio River area in 1818. He selected the scientific name of Silurus (Greek: οὐρά, oura, “tail”) + olivaris (Latin: “olive-colored”).

The multilingual, widely traveled Frenchman based his choice upon his familiarity with the European catfish in the Silurus genus. The name subsequently changed to Pylodictis (Greek: πηλός, pelos, “mud” + ἰχθύς, ichthys, “fish”) + olivaris. The change reflected the recognition of the fish's uniqueness which warranted having its own genus and species within that genus.

What is the flathead catfish’s homeland? The flathead catfish is a freshwater native of the Great Lakes region in its southern extension as well as many drainages into the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River basin. In North America, it therefore is found as a native species in the United States of America and Mexico as well as an introduced species in Canada and the western United States. In the northeastern United States of America, it is located in inward-flowing mountain streams. In Virginia, it is present in the Big Sandy, New River and Tennessee drainages. It also will occur as an introduced species into the James, Potomac and Roanoke drainages of Virginia.

Within its native and introduced ranges, the flathead catfish favors deeper, larger, warmer lakes, reservoirs, rivers and streams. It handles the following conditions within its preferred habitats:

• Deep holes along the bottoms and sides;
  
• Hard or slightly silted bottoms;
  
• Submerged debris, objects such as sunken logs, and plants;
  
• Slow, turbid waters of little current and low visibility;
  
• Water temperatures as warm as 91.4 °F (33 °C).

What is the flathead catfish’s appearance? The flathead catfish is faithful to the look which can be found in the fossils of its Middle Miocene ancestors of 11 to 15 million years ago. It also looks similar to its closest living relative, the albino widemouth blindcat (Satan eurystomus) of the deep artesian wells in Texas.

Head:

• Broad, flat;
• Cat whisker- or worm-like barbels (Latin: barbellus, "little beard") which serve as feelers for smelling, touching and tasting potential prey;
• Protruding lower jaw;
• Rearward projecting teeth in the upper jaw;
• Small eyes;

Body:

• Back black mottled with light brown, yellow or yellow brown;
• Belly gray, yellow or yellow white;
• Body slender, lacking scales;
• Mature body length of 15 to 20 inches (38.10 to 50.80 centimeters), with a known maximum of 61 inches (154.94 centimeters);
• Mature body weight of 10 to 20 pounds (4.54 to 9.07 kilograms), with known maximums of 51 pounds (23.13 kilograms) in Virginia and of 123.02 pounds (55.80 kilograms);
• Bones minimal;
• Sides brownish olive or brownish yellow mottled with medium to dark brown;
• Tail fin square with the upper tip orange in the juvenile and white in the adult;

Fins, Rays, Spines:

• Anal fin with 14 to 17 rays;

• Caudal (Latin: caudālis, “of or relating to the tail of an animal”) fin with 15 rays;

• Dorsal (Latin: dorsālis, “of or relating to the back”) fin with 6 rays and 1 pain-inducing spine;

• Pectoral (Latin: pectorālis, “of or relating to the breast”) fin with 10 to 11 rays and 1 pain-inducing spine;

• Pelvic fin with 9 to 10 rays.

What is the flathead catfish’s prey? The young flathead catfish eats insect larvae and microcrustaceans. The adult flathead catfish feeds on:

• Clams;
• Crabs;
• Crayfish;
• Crickets;
• Filamentous algae;
• Locusts;
• Mollusks;
• Other fish;
• Submerged and terrestrial plants;
• Worms.

What is the flathead catfish’s predator? The black bullhead (Ameirus melas) and the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) are predators of the young flathead catfish. People are the main predators of the adult flathead catfish.

What is the flathead catfish’s spawning time? The flathead catfish breeds in late spring. It can breed once water temperatures range between 69.8 and 80.6 °F (21 and 27 °C). Spawning in Virginia is in the early and mid-summer months of June and July. It may take place as early as May and as late as August elsewhere, such as in Texas.

The female flathead catfish can deposit as many as 100,000 golden yellow eggs. The female can produce 1,200 eggs for every pound (2.2 kilograms) of body weight. The female and the male precede the egg-laying by building a nest:

• In cavities;
• On cleared substrate near such underwater cover as submerged timber.

The eggs will be guarded and aerated by the male flathead catfish. They will hatch in 4 to 6 days. The newly hatched fry will remain for 3 to 4 days under the supervision of the male. They then will take to the cover of submerged objects and plants in nearby waters.

The fry and the juvenile feed from a narrowly defined area. They live in shallow waters near where they hatch. They particularly seek the macro and micro invertebrate food sources in the bubbling, oxygenated, shallow waters of riffles.

The female flathead catfish is sexually mature at 4 to 5 years. The male matures at 3 to 4. They may live as long as 26 years.

What is the flathead catfish’s use? Fishing and food are the main uses of the flathead catfish. Anglers and fishers benefit from bottom fishing with a heavy tackle at the end of which is fresh or live bait. It is easy to keep the catch alive by placing the fish in a wet burlap sack or strung by the mouth in water. Back at the house, the flathead catfish then may be dispatched with a sharp rap.

Times:

Night;

Places:

Shallow waters near shorelines, to which the adult flathead catfish relocates from its daytime locations in deeper waters;

Methods:

Live bait: Crayfish, insect larvae, worms.

There also can be an exasperatingly adventurous way in which to catch the flathead catfish. It is called grabbling, noodling or tickling in southeastern states such as North Carolina and Virginia. It requires dexterity since the grabbler, noodler or tickler seeks a firm hold on the gill cover or lower jaw of a flathead catfish hiding under the cover of rocky ledges or undercut banks. Swapping of grabbler stories will be accompanied by a comparing of scarred hands to verify the actual taking place of the struggle between enthusiastic predator and reclusive, reluctant, retiring prey.

In terms of food, the flathead catfish can be the source of filling, flavorful main dishes. Filleting always is a popular choice. But the flathead catfish will cooperate most beautifully in the preparation with respect to the following general rules:

• Transport in clean water;
• Keep cool;
• Fillet the smaller sizes;
• Steak the larger sizes.

Basketball, a different kind of bait: On Friday afternoon, May 28, 2004, Bill Driver, a Wichita, Kansas fishing enthusiast who has fished for five decades from the Great Lakes to Panama, was on the deck of his house overlooking Sandalwood Lake. The one-acre lake abounded in bass and panfish.

Noticing a red ball bobbing strangely on the surface, Bill strolled to his dock for a closer look. A red basketball of about 8 inches was stuck in the mouth of a flathead catfish. Exhausted from trying to dive but being buoyed to the surface by the basketball, the flathead catfish allowed Bill to wade near it and attempt to dislodge the ball. After repeatedly futile efforts, Bill thought of using a knife, which his wife, Pam, who documented the strange scene with her camera, retrieved from their kitchen. Deflating the ball with the knife, Bill was then able to remove with ease the limp basketball.

Bill's last sight of the assuredly grateful flathead, which had an estimated weight of 50 pounds (22.6 kilos), was of it swimming toward the deepest part of the lake.

The bizarre episode and its equally unique photographs were featured in an article in The Wichita Eagle, "A Tough Pill to Swallow," by Michael Pearce on May 30, 2004. The engaging tale soon took on local flavors as places as far away as Australia's Lake Macquarie, north of Sydney in New South Wales, claimed to be the setting for the floundering flathead.

More bait: Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card for a hefty flathead catfish? In the August 22, 1995 issue of The Daily Gazette: The Independent Voice of the Capital Region, published in Schenectady, New York, an article entitled "Wanted: Large catfish for 'Grumpier Old Men'" appeared on page A5. The filmmakers for the sequel to "Grumpy Old Men", which was filmed in the scenic Minneapolis-St. Paul area, were offering $500 for "a live flathead catfish weighing more than 60 pounds." Peter Bankins, who was charged with acquiring the film's necessary props, noted that a live version was sought to double for their rubber, 55-pound puppet. The flathead catfish candidate would have had the pleasure of sharing screen time with two of screendom's most hilarious buffoons, Jack Lemmon (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) and Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000).

Did the filmmakers find their flathead? The answer might be part of Grumpy lore. Nevertheless, included in the list of visual mistakes in this rollicking tribute to grumpy camaraderie are two flathead bloopers. First, near the beginning, the splash from Catfish Hunter landing after breaching occurs in front of his actual touchdown. Second, at the end, as Catfish Hunter swims away, the shadowy outline of the operator of the puppet fish is visible.

What is the flathead catfish’s future? The flathead catfish is unusual in how long and meaty it can get. It owes its achievement of the outer limits in the species’ range in height and weight to its environmental adaptations and its protective skills. Specifically, the flathead catfish will be found in the dirtier, slower, warmer waters which many fish disdain. It will offer a challenge to predatory anglers, fishers and grabblers whom it tries to elude. It nevertheless will reward the infrequent, successful angler, fisher or grabbler with the following rewards:

• An atypical fish which anticipates many an angling, fishing or grabbling maneuver;
• A rare fish which cooperates in staying alive from the catch through the transport;
• An uncommon fish which lets itself be dispatched with a summary smack to the head;
• An unusual fish which offers healthy, nutritious enjoyment to main dishes as well as to salads, snacks and soups.

Not many can catch and eat their own fresh flathead catfish.

My special thanks to:

• Talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the Internet; as well as to Stessily for original artwork included below;
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Department of Agriculture for the professionalism which is evinced in the high-caliber data and images which they make available in print and on the internet;
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Texas State University-San Marcos, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for the high caliber of their online resources.

Baum, Lyman Frank. Glinda of Oz. Chicago: Reilly & Lee, 1920.

Baum, Lyman Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Chicago: George M. Hill Company, 1900.

"Flathead Catfish, Pylodictis olivaris." EFISH: The Virtual Aquarium of The Department of Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences of Virginia Tech. http://cnre.vt.edu/efish/families/flathead.html (Last accessed November 17, 2011)

"Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris." Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) Gallery of Pennsylvania Fishes Chapter 14: Catfishes, Family Ictaluridae. http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/fishhtms/chap14catfishes.htm (Last accessed November 17, 2011)

“Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris).” Texas Parks & Wildlife. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/catfish/

“Grumpier Old Men (1995) – 15 mistakes.” Movie Mistakes. http://www.moviemistakes.com/film1956 (Last accessed November 17, 2011)

Hart, David. Flyfisher’s Guide to Virginia Including West Virginia’s Best Fly Fishing Waters. Belgrade, MT: Wilderness Adventures Press, Inc., 2006.

Hassan-Williams, Carla, and Timothy H. Bonner. "Pylodictis olivaris flathead catfish." Texas State University-San Marcos Department of Biology: Texas Freshwater Fishes. http://www.bio.txstate.edu/~tbonner/txfishes/pylodictis%20olivaris.htm (Last accessed November 17, 2011)

Jenkins, Robert E. and Noel M. Burkhead. Freshwater Fishes of Virginia. Bethesda, MD: American Fisheries Society, 1994.

Rohde, Fred C., Rudolf G. Arndt, David G. Lindquist, and James F. Parnell. Freshwater Fishes of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994.

"Wanted: Large catfish for 'Grumpier Old Men'", The Daily Gazette: The Independent Voice of the Capital Region, August 22, 1995, Schenectady, New York. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tjpHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bekMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4726%2C4735317 (Last accessed November 17, 2011)

Copyright Thursday, November 17, 2011 by Derdriu